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WhatsApp

WhatsApp Lock Feature to Protect ‘Extra Special’ Chats?

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The makers of WhatsApp have released a new option to prevent nosy close friends or even close relatives from reading your private conversations. The business announced a new Chat Lock feature on Monday to protect your private logs from prying eyes.

Users can now choose to lock any chat by simply touching on any single or group chat twice and using the lock option, according to a statement from Meta. This places the chat’s who, what, and when information in a separate folder. Although locked chats now conceal the message and the sender, notifications still appear.

Whatsapp
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On the main WhatsApp interface, locked chats don’t automatically show up; instead, users must scroll down to the inbox to see the dedicated folder. Users can access password-protected chats using their passwords or a biometric ID, such as their fingerprint.

Also Read: How to use Amazon Prime’s new ‘Dialogue Boost’ feature?

The business explained in a blog post that Chat Blocks are for situations where a family member or close friend is holding your phone in case someone on an “extra special chat” sends you a message. The piece also included a video that showed a man’s agonizing attempts to prevent his family from discovering that he has been texting someone special.

Although it’s simple to assume that someone would want to lock down specific chats for sinister reasons, it does seem like a helpful option for anyone who doesn’t want to frequently explain to whom they were speaking and why.

Meta stated in a blog post, “Over the next few months, we’re going to be adding more options for Chat Lock, including locking for companion devices, creating a custom password for your chats so that you can use a unique password from your phone’s.” In the upcoming months, Meta plans to expand Chat Lock’s features, notably the ability to assign a unique password to each closed chat.

This is not the first time the business has developed a way to lock off private chats, More users in nations where the app is blocked can now access the chat functions thanks to the app’s creation of a proxy server earlier this year.

Also Read: What is Google Help Me Write?

This new capability does little to address the issue that users who also have access to a phone number can still more easily hijack a user identity. WhatsApp has suggested it would have to leave the UK if the country passed its internet safety measure because it already has end-to-end encryption features.

The parent firm Meta, which recently strengthened the verification mechanism to thwart potential scammers and introduced more alternatives to deal with missing messages, has been working really hard to maintain WhatsApp trustworthy and safe.

Dialogue Boost

How to use Amazon Prime’s new ‘Dialogue Boost’ feature?

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One of the most annoying situations when watching TV is when you are able to hear the explosions and background music of a particular scene but not the speech. Dialogue Boost, please.

In order to prevent consumers from being compelled to enable subtitles even when they don’t want to, Amazon Prime Video is introducing a new accessibility tool that enables users to boost the volume of dialogue without adding background music or effects.

Dialogue Boost
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Raf Soltanovich, the vice president of technology at Prime Video and Amazon Studios, stated in a statement, “At Prime Video, we are committed to delivering an inclusive, egalitarian, and pleasant streaming experience for all our consumers.

Also Read: What is Google Help Me Write?

“Our library of captioned and audio-described content keeps expanding, and by utilizing our technological capabilities to develop industry-first innovations like Dialogue Boost, we are taking another step towards creating a more accessible streaming experience,” the company said.

In order to use the feature choose a movie/series that offers this feature. You may check the title’s detail page if this feature is available. Start the movie and click the drop-down menus for the audio and subtitles on your screen. From the available options, select the Dialogue Boost level that you desire.

Based on how much you want to strengthen the dialogue, you can choose between “English Dialogue Boost: Medium” and “English Dialogue Boost: High”. You can choose between the Low, Medium, or High Dialogue Boost tracks.

Try them all out to determine the one that works most effectively for you since each level gives different levels of amplification, as their names suggest. Take pleasure in the title’s louder and more understandable dialogue.

Also Read: How is the new Google AI search different from the Bard chatbot?

In order to distinguish the conversation from the background noise in a movie or television show, it looks for instances where it is being overpowered by other sounds. Later, it uses AI to raise the dialogue’s quality.

In this manner, Dialogue Boost does not amplify the entire sound of the dialogue, simply the portions that require it before it is made available more broadly, the feature will first be made available globally for a select group of Amazon Original programs, including “Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan,” “The Marvellous Mrs. Maisel,” and others.

It is accessible on all platforms that Prime Video supports. Even though Amazon is the very first global streaming platform to offer this capability, other platforms, including Roku, also offer a feature called “speech clarity.”

Help Me Write

What is Google Help Me Write?

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This year’s Google I/O had a strong artificial intelligence theme, and prompt-based text generation—especially in Google’s Office suite—was a major component of that theme. Many new features were added to some of our top Google apps, like Help Me Write, at the most recent Google I/O event.

Help Me Write
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Google said on Wednesday at its Google I/O event that Gmail will soon have a tool that will use artificial intelligence to compose complete emails for users.

Also Read: How is the new Google AI search different from the Bard chatbot?

The “help me write” function is essentially an extension of the auto-replies and generative text Google already employs in Gmail. Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google, cited the example of requesting a flight refund when introducing the feature.

A whole message requesting the refund is created by the AI feature using data from earlier communications with the airline. The message can then be edited as desired and sent.

After the text has been created, users can edit it to make it more effective for their purposes. The I’m Feeling Lucky option is available, as well as options to formalize, elaborate, and shorten. Since March, this function has been accessible to a small group of trusted testers, and Google says a wider audience will have access to it later in the year.

Help Me Write users will be able to offer suggestions a thumbs up or down, which should help the technology become more accurate and timely over time.

This is just one illustration of how Google is enhancing Google Workspaces with Generative artificial intelligence (AI) features to provide its users with more accessibility. Help Me Write can be used to overcome writer’s block and facilitate communication between people in both professional and everyday settings.

With the new Help Me Write feature coming to Gmail and Google Docs, users will be able to construct emails and writing sections based on fewer inputs. It is essentially an enormous enlargement of the Smart Prompts technology, which currently exists and can autocomplete sentences depending on what a user typically writes.

Also Read: What is the admin review feature on WhatsApp?

Email fundamentally changed how we communicate in the five decades since its creation, but it has also grown tedious. An email has become a chore for many of our routine tasks, such as scheduling a pet sitter, asking a doctor for medical information, or requesting refunds from merchants.

Help Me Write is poised to have a significant impact on how the world communicates via email given that Gmail has 1.8 billion active users.

Google

How is the new Google AI search different from the Bard chatbot?

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In an effort to dispel concerns that it is falling behind Microsoft Corp.’s OpenAI-powered Bing search, Alphabet Inc.’s Google on Wednesday showed off an improved core search product that incorporates more AI in its solutions.

Google also has a chatbot called Bard that rivals ChatGPT, the OpenAI chatbot that has sparked a lot of user interest with its human-like responses. According to the company, conventional searches on Google may still be used to find and seek out information, such as finding a product to buy.

Google
Image Source: reuters.com

Bard is a chatbot with a character that can have conversations that seem human-like and is intended to serve as a tool for creative collaboration, such as writing software code or captions for pictures.

Also Read: Google I/O 2023: How to watch and what to expect

The Search Generative Experience, the improved search feature, keeps the familiar search bar’s look and function on Google’s home page.

The difference is in the responses: if the new Google determines that generative artificial intelligence (AI) can be used to respond to a query, the AI-generated response will appear at the very top of the results page. The standard Web links are still available below.

For instance, a person searching for “weather New York” will typically be directed to an eight-day prediction, but if they search for “what to wear in the California city,” AI will give a long response, according to a test done for Reuters earlier this week.

The result included links to websites where it found such advice and said, “You should bring layers, including a short-sleeved shirt and a light jumper or jacket for the day.” Additionally, users will have access to a brand-new “conversational mode,” which works similarly to Bard and ChatGPT in that it keeps track of the user’s previous inquiries to make it simpler for users to ask follow-up questions.

However, the business emphasizes that the conversational mode is merely meant to improve search results and is not intended to be a chatbot with a personality. For instance, unlike Bard and ChatGPT, it will never use the “I” statement in its responses.

Also Read: What is the admin review feature on WhatsApp?

The Bard chatbot is designed to engage in natural language conversations with users, typically in a specific domain such as customer service or personal assistance. It uses natural language processing and machine learning to understand the user’s questions and provide helpful responses While both systems use AI, they have different goals and capabilities.

Google AI search is focused on information retrieval and presenting relevant results to users, while the Bard chatbot is focused on conversational interactions and providing assistance to users in a specific domain. Bard is already accessible without a wait list in over 180 nations, according to the business, which also wants to provide support for 40 additional languages.

admin review

What is the admin review feature on WhatsApp?

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WhatsApp, a platform for instant messaging owned by Meta, is currently developing new updates and upgrades. For users to have a seamless and simple experience on the platform, Whatsapp provides new updates every other month. According to recent news, the tech company is working on delivering a new feature dubbed “admin review” for Android that would provide group admins with more tools so they can manage their WhatsApp group more effectively.

admin review
Image Source: ommcomnews.com

WhatsApp, a platform for instant messaging owned by Meta, is currently developing new updates and upgrades. For users to have a seamless and simple experience on the platform, Whatsapp provides new updates every other month.

Also Read: Google I/O 2023: How to watch and what to expect

According to recent news, the tech company is working on delivering a new feature dubbed “admin review” for Android that would provide group admins with more tools so they can manage their WhatsApp group more effectively.

According to WABetaInfo, group users on the app will be able to report particular messages to the group admin after WhatsApp launches the feature and it is activated on your mobile device.

According to the article, once a group member reports a message as improper or in violation of the group’s rules, the feature will enable group administrators to delete the offending posting.

Once it is implemented, WhatsApp’s group settings section will provide the new option to remove the message from the group. In the meanwhile, the article added that WhatsApp will display the reported texts in the group in a new part of the app within the group details page, which would be accessible only to group administrators and not to other group members.

A future update to WhatsApp’s app will make beta testers aware of the capability to report texts to group administrators.

On the other hand, according to some beta testers, WhatsApp is also apparently rolling out a new side-by-side’ function for Android users on its WhatsApp tablets platform.

Users will have more control over the platform’s user interface on their Android tablets thanks to WhatsApp’s “side-by-side” functionality, which enables them to flip between discussions without losing track of their ongoing chats.

The admin review feature on WhatsApp is a feature that allows group administrators to review and approve messages before they are posted in a group chat. When this feature is turned on, any message posted by a group member will be held for review by the group administrator(s) before it is visible to the rest of the group.

Also Read: Does the EU draft Data Act put trade secrets at risk?

This feature can be useful for group administrators who want to ensure that the messages posted in their group are appropriate and in line with the group’s rules and guidelines. It can also help prevent the spread of misinformation and spam in the group.

To enable the admin review feature, the group administrator(s) can go to the group settings, select “Group Info”, and then toggle on the “Admin Only” option under the “Send Messages” setting. After this is done, any message posted by group members will require approval from the group administrator(s) before it can be seen by other group members.

Google I/O

Google I/O 2023: How to watch and what to expect

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Google I/O 2023 will take place on May 10th. Google I/O is an annual developer conference hosted by Google. The conference typically features keynote presentations, technical sessions, and product demonstrations focused on the company’s latest innovations in technology and software.

Google I/O
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In contrast to the multi-day I/Os of former years, this year’s event just lasts for that single day. Although Google is holding I/O as a live event at Shoreline Amphitheatre close to its campus in Mountain View, California, it is also being streamed on the Google I/O webpage. Google I/O can be live-streamed by any individual who registers for free on that website. The event can also be streamed on Youtube.

Also Read: Google Rolls Out Passkeys to (Eventually) Kill Passwords

These days, everyone seems to be thinking about AI-powered chat solutions, including Google. The organisation will have the chance to discuss Bard, its in-house chat client, and how it may benefit additional Google services like search, mapping, and productivity tools at Google I/O.

Google might take the opportunity to address worries regarding the hazards that certain individuals have identified with AI in addition to discussing how AI chatbots integrate into its own line of products, as one might anticipate.

The company released the Android 14 beta last month, and Google I/O 2023 will be its first chance to provide a public peek to a larger audience. This year is expected to be no different, given the significant role Android has played at previous I/O conferences.

Since a completed version of Android 14 is anticipated before the end of summer, we might even have more clarification on the development timeframe. Long rumoured to be in the works, Google’s first foldable device astonished everyone last week when it became public.

The maker shared a picture and a video of the Pixel Fold, a device that can be folded horizontally like a book. While Google declined to provide any information regarding its features, a prior claim from CNBC indicates the device may have a display that is 5.8 inches when it is closed and 7.6 inches when it is opened, making it comparable to Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 4.

Also Read: Google Authenticator finally syncs one-time codes in the cloud

The main announcement at Google I/O 2023 is expected to be a new piece of hardware for the company. There have been persistent rumours of a Pixel Fold that would disrupt the foldable phone market, which is now dominated by Samsung products. Google has now essentially acknowledged that this will take place.

It is anticipated that at least one new phone will be released by Google, especially in light of the rumours that claim the Pixel 7a will go on sale during that time.